Three bids were soon submitted by a wealthy consortium, helmed by British financier Amanda Staveley through her PCP company – but all three were rejected by Ashley.

Since the final offer, reportedly submitted in late November, negotiations between the two camps have reached a stand-off.

Ashley suggested Staveley’s interest in the club was not “genuine” – a claim she strenuously denied while reaffirming her ambition to launch a takeover.

Speaking exclusively to Starsport, football finance boffin Kieran Maguire pointed out that much-maligned chairman Ashley might have been stalling on negotiations while waiting for the next Premier League TV deal to be announced.

GETTY

Newcastle chairman Mike Ashley put the club up for sale at the end of last year

“What Newcastle are doing, in the form of Mike Ashley, is they’re hoping that the deal which will commence in 2019 will be substantially higher [than the current TV deal],” Maguire explained.

“If you’ve got lots of extra money coming in, that means Newcastle as a club – if they are in the Premier League – becomes more valubale.

“So I think he is hanging on because what will have happened is PCP will have calculated their price for Newcastle on the basis of extra TV money being worth an extra 20% domestically and 40% overseas.